[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 120 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        STATEMENT ON WAR IN IRAQ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2005

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, this weekend thousands of Americans will 
congregate on the National Mall and in cities all across this country 
to protest the Bush Administration's elective war in Iraq. By raising 
their voices en masse, they hope to send a message to President Bush 
that he and his Administration, thus far, has been unwilling to hear: 
the American people don't support this war.
  The war was always predicated on the false premise that Iraq was in 
possession of weapons of mass destruction. This Congress was negligent 
in not demanding more proof of the President and then refusing to hold 
him accountable for his exaggerated and unfounded claims.
  His war strategy was equally flawed. He has failed to provide the 
resources our men and women in uniform need to be successful, and 
American lives have been lost as a result. In 2002 and 2003, Army Chief 
of Staff General Shinseki warned that not enough boots on the ground 
would lead to a power vacuum that our enemies would exploit. 
Tragically, his premonitions have been born out.
  To date, approximately 1,900 brave Americans have been killed in 
Iraq, and there appears to be no immediate end to the quagmire in Iraq.
  The American people are rightly asking whether we are any closer to a 
stable and democratic Iraq today than when the President declared 
``Mission Accomplished.'' If experience has taught us anything, it is 
that democracy cannot be forced upon a nation by gun point. Yet, 
military force seems to be Bush's preferable strategy.
  A recent GAO report indicates that the Defense Department has no 
ability to account for billions of Federal dollars expended on the war 
in Iraq, and there are reports of widespread corruption within the 
Iraqi government. Iraq's own Finance Minister Ali Allawi admitted, 
``Huge amounts of money have disappeared. In return, we got nothing but 
scraps of metal.''
  Meanwhile, Congress continues to debate how the Federal Government 
will afford the recovery effort from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Some 
of my Republican colleagues have suggested that we cut spending on 
domestic programs for health care, education and transportation. The 
American people, by and large, reject this approach. A recent CNN/USA 
Today/Gallup poll revealed that a full 54 percent of the respondents 
felt that the relief effort should be financed by cutting funding for 
the war. Only 6 percent felt Congress should cut domestic spending.
  In the debate over guns and butter, the American people have spoken 
clearly. Now all we need is a President that is willing to carry out 
the will of the people.

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